Don't die on me
by extra rice
Summary: Neji proposed to Tenten, but she thinks she is not ready. When Neji faces death, would she change her mind? Oneshot.


Authoress' note: Ohayo minasan!!! I'm trying to improve my writing skills, so this is a mere oneshot test for the New Year!

O+O is a kind of page break I developed for this fic.

_Tenten'__s thoughts or flashback_

Narration

"Talking"

"Don't Die on Me"

A NejiTen fanfic

By gaigai

"Neji!"

_I pitied Neji. However, I just can't marry him._

"Please, Neji!"

_I didn't accept his marriage proposal. I told him we were still too young._

"Let's retreat, Neji! We can't finish them!"

_And now, he's on a killing rampage. Great. He's channeling his anger to these thousands of Oto shinobi who ambushed us a while ago._

"Neji, come on!"

_No matter how hard I try o stop hi, he won't listen to me. I guess he's still too depressed._

I'm running out of chakra and weapon scrolls now. These Oto-nins are weak, but it seems they never decrease in number. Neji looks tired, but he's not giving up.

_He won't give up. He never does._

Neji summoned all of his kage bunshin to make a barrier.

_I don't understand what he's thinking. Make a barrier? He must be crazy._

Neji looked at me. "Tenten, go now! Return to Konoha and warn the others about these Sound shinobi. I'll stay here to keep them busy."

"But-"

"Go!"

I looked at him with a worried face. He looked away to the opposite direction. Then, he went near me.

"Tenten I don't have time."

He neared me and took my right hand. He put the engagement ring on my palm without looking at me, sorrow showing in his face. After that, he walked away.

_Neji, what does this mean?_

"Tenten, go now."

I left him without turning back. I rushed to Konoha and told Naruto about the ambush. He then sent reinforcements, but told me to stay.

I didn't agree, of course.

"Hokage-sama, I must go there!"

"No, I'm sending others. Stay here."

"Neji is in trouble! I must help him!"

"Stay. Medics will rescue Neji."

"I want to be there for him."

Naruto looked at me with serious but worried eyes. He stood up and sat on his table.

"Tenten, Neji-teme will feel better if you rest. I know he doesn't want you to be exposed to danger."

_Naruto-sama is right._

"Fine, Hokage-sama. I'll stay."

I went home and lied on my bed directly.

O+O

_Neji-kun, please be safe._

Suddenly, I had a flashback of what happened just before we fought the Sound-nins in the forest.

_"Neji-kun, where are we going?" I asked him. Neji put a blindfold on me, so I can't see a single thing._

_He remained silent. Then I felt his rough hands get mine gently. He put my right hand at his cheek. On the other hand, he inserted a ring through my finger._

_I knew what this meant._

_I love him, but I am not ready yet. I am still twenty years old, but I believe I still lack maturity. I think I am still too young for such a serious matter._

_He untied my blindfold. He smiled at me. I suddenly felt guilty of what my response will be._

_"Tenten, will you marry me?"_

_How shall I break it to him?_

_"Neji-kun, I-"_

_I looked at him, who was eagerly waiting for my reply._

_"I-I, uh, kuso! How should I say this?"_

_I bet Neji read my mind because he suddenly had a disappointed look on his face. He frowned._

_I slowly took off the ring from my finger and put it on his palm._

_"Neji, I'm sorry. It's just that, I-I'm not yet ready to marry."_

_Neji clenched his fist with intense anger and fell on his knees. His white eyes showed lifelessness, and this made me terribly guilty._

I kept on thinking of what might have happened to Neji. I wanted to see him again and tell him that I changed my mind, that I wanted to spend the rest of my life with him.

I remembered the ring he gave me. I decided to observe its every feature.

At first, I thought I was just seeing a plain silver ring, but as I carefully touched it, I felt the words engraved on it. I stared at it, then I saw the minute message embedded on it.

"Even after death do us part."

Tears welled in my eyes. I couldn't help but cry. I never thought he cared so much for me. I thought he didn't love me, even though he was my boyfriend for five years already. I held the ring close to my heart, wishing for his safety at the same time.

Suddenly, the bedroom door flung open. In front of me was a very scared Hinata. The moment I saw her, I knew she brought bad news.

"Hinata, what brought you here?"

"It's-It's Ne-Neji-san. He-He-"

"NANDA!"

I shook Hinata fiercely. The Hyuuga cried.

"He has a fatal injury. The-The enemies bo-bore a hole th-though his chest!"

I stopped shaking her. I could not believe what I heard, yet it seemed expected of Neji.

Oto-nins aren't weak shinobi, especially since their Otokage is one of the Sannin of Konoha.

However, expected or not, I didn't like the idea at all.

_Neji-kun, no..._

I immediately dragged Hinata to the hospital. I ran to the nurse at the information desk.

"Where is Hyuuga Neji's room?!"

The nurse calmly scanned through the files. I don't know how she managed to be placid even at such an unholy hour, but my hands didn't stop shaking. Finally, she found Neji's name.

"Hyuuga Neji. Twenty one and a half years old. Male. Intensive Care Unit 7. Fatal injury at the chest."

I thanked the nurse and ran to the waiting area of ICU 7. I noticed Naruto first, then Hiashi-san. Naruto was trying to make Neji's uncle less nervous, yet Hiashi-san looked like some nervous wreck.

The ICU 7 sign's light turned off. Shizune-san went out of the room with a relieved face. She looked at me and smiled.

"He is already in a stable condition. He is conscious now, and he wants to see you, Tenten."

I gave a grateful bow to Shizune-san and made my way to Neji's bed.

He was lying on the hospital bed, obviously weak from the fight as well as the operation. His hair was untied and spread around him. There were signs of stitches at his bare chest. He also had a great share of cuts, bruises, and bandages.

"Neji, I'm-"

"Tenten..."

I didn't waste time. I took his hand and gently put the ring on his palm. I closed his hand and held it tightly.

"Neji, I changed my mind."

Neji smiled at me. However, he frowned seconds after. "Tenten, I hoped there was time..."

_Neji what in the world does this mean? I thought the operation was successful!_

"...but now it's too late."

Too late? Why?

"Neji, I don't understand what you're saying to me."

Neji put his hand on my shoulder. He shook me harshly.

"Tenten, Tenten, Tenten..."

The world turned black.

O+O

"Tenten, Tenten, oi wake up."

_When I opened my eyes, I realized I was just dreaming._

Neji looked at me with his usual emotionless face. I blushed at the thought of my dream and stood up hastily. I folded my blanket and put it in my bag.

_Hey...when did I even use a blanket?_

"Let's go, Neji."

Neji nodded, and we leapt on branched again. This time, Neji made me take the lead.

"Tenten," Neji said to me.

"Nani?" I asked him without looking at him.

"Do you accept it?"

"Ha? What?"

"My proposal."

I stopped.

_How did he know?_

"How did you know?"

Neji chuckled. "The dream was the effect of my genjutsu, remember? You allowed me to cast one upon you as long as I will break it when we're in trouble."

_Oh, so that's what happened, eh?_

I faced him and threw a shuriken dead accurate at him. He bareky dodged it. I smirked.

"Put this in your genius mind, Neji."

He twitched an eyebrow. I grinned.

"The next time you propose to me with genjutsu,

Don't die on me."

_OWARI_

O+O

Well, was it nice? Tell me! Please! Reviews, even flames, are happily accepted! I know some or most of the characters are OOC in this story, but just please have mercy on a newbie!!!

Arigato for reading!!!

gaigai


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